The Future of Consumerist

Over the last twelve years, Consumerist has been a steadfast proponent and voice on behalf of consumers, from exposing shady practices by secretive cable companies to pushing for action against dodgy payday lenders. Now, we’re joining forces with Consumer Reports, our parent organization, to cultivate the next generation of consumer advocacy.

Stay tuned as Consumerist’s current and future content finds its home as a part of the Consumer Reports brand. In the meantime, you can access existing Consumerist content below, and we encourage you to visit Consumer Reports to read the latest consumer news.

There are few things worse than having your relatively new car stall on you without warning. That’s why Ford is recalling nearly 90,000 vehicles with a defect that could leave your car dead — and unable to restart — in the middle of the road.

Ford announced Wednesday that it will recall 88,151 vehicles — 77,502 in the United States, 7,353 in Canada, and 1,083 in Mexico — to replace fuel pump control modules.

According to Ford, the fuel pump control module in the vehicles can fail, causing the engine to not start or to stall.

In some cases, the engine could stall without warning while driving and without the ability to restart, increasing the risk of a crash, Ford says, noting that it is unaware of any accidents or injuries related to the issue.

Dealers will inspect and replace the fuel pump control module as needed at no cost to the customer.

In a separate, similar, recall Ford said on Wednesday that it will call back 2,472 model year 2015 to 2016 Ford Transit 3.2-liter diesel-equipped vehicles over fuel pump issues.

According to the recall, the fuel injection pump in the vehicles can malfunction, causing the engine to not start or stall without warning while driving and without the ability to restart, increasing the risk of a crash.

Dealers will inspect the fuel system for metallic contamination and make needed repairs.

Ford also said on Wednesday that it will push out a power window software update to about 23,000 2017 Escape SUVs.

In the affected vehicles, the power window system configuration may exceed the regulatory requirement for remote actuation closing force, increasing the risk of injury, the company said.